Milestones - Excellence in Child Development Since 1994

Our Mission

Our mission is to enhance the lives of children by teaching more appropriate and useful patterns of communication, behavior, organization, and relating to others, while respecting their individuality. We are successful because we do not stop at rote teaching or simply eliminating behaviors. Rather, we strive to understand the person as a whole and comprehend the reasons for the behavior. We then create a solution for the root problem. In this way we teach skills for life.

The Milestones Advantage

We listen to and value our families and their child.
We can incorporate siblings and family members into the child’s treatment sessions.
We pair evaluations and diagnostic services with parent training. When families leave our doors, they walk away with an education.
Our highly trained and certified staff are leaders in their fields and, are very personable.
We take the time to gather information and really observe each child (instead of making snap judgments).
We use both formal and informal assessments and the newest diagnostic and assessment tools.
We have years of experience and expertise working collaboratively with the child’s other team members, including the school district.
We are a stable organization that has been in practice since 1994

Our Story

Milestones has 2 owners, Alex Michaels and Laurie Smith, M.Ed.

In 1994 we started Milestones out of the kitchen of Alex’s house. We originally started the agency as an educational consultation firm that worked with schools and families to design classrooms that would effectively meet the needs of our students.

Although we never advertised, our name quickly spread due to the high quality of services we provided. We were unique back then (and now), because we incorporated many philosophies, always striving to help students with their underlying issues and broad range of symptoms – essentially, we’ve always thought outside the box. This continues to remain the hallmark of our agency’s philosophy.

In 2001, Jennifer Moran, Chief Operating Officer, joined Milestones. Alex and Laurie quickly saw Jennifer’s unique background in management and graphic design as an invaluable tool. She quickly became the Chief Operating Officer. Today Jennifer oversees all of the operational and administrative aspects of Milestones.

In 2004, Deanna Asselin, Chief Financial Officer, joined the company. Deanna’s background is in accounting and brought an incredibly detailed financial ability to Milestones which has enabled the growth of the school and opening of the Diagnostic, Evaluation, and Treatment Center due to her meticulous planning and foresight.